


You are the Ocean (and I'm Good at Drowning)

by JasmineTeaLatte



Series: Where the Spirit Meets the Bones [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Drabble, Ember Island (Avatar), F/M, Inspired by Music, Midnight Kisses on the Beach, Mild Smut, Sex on the Beach, Underwater, ZK Drabble December 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:22:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27841429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasmineTeaLatte/pseuds/JasmineTeaLatte
Summary: She has carved her name into his heart like water dripping steadily into a stone.Water is patient, water always goes where it wants to go, and in the end he is powerless to resist when she overwhelms him.He will happily allow himself to be pulled under her riptides every single time, willingly giving himself up to be claimed by her again and again.Who can deny the ocean what she desires, after all?~*~*~Written for ZK Drabble December 2020, Day 19: Crashing Waves
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Where the Spirit Meets the Bones [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2071038
Comments: 12
Kudos: 64
Collections: ZK Drabble December 2020





	You are the Ocean (and I'm Good at Drowning)

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from / fic inspired by Phantogram's "You are the Ocean." For full immersion, play that on repeat in the background while reading.

The prince doesn’t know how long he waits at the edge of the shore.

He shivers in spite of himself as the crashing waves swirl and wash over his feet, burying them even deeper into the wet sand.

The moon hangs full and heavy as ripened fruit ready to be plucked from a branch, a beacon of luminescence floating high in an indigo sky, drowning in a sea of starlight.

And he is all too familiar with drowning these days.

It’s something he’s made a habit of excelling at, both in his turbulent quest for redemption and in his stilted, often clumsy interactions with his new friends and allies.

Especially _her_.

He almost doesn’t hear her delicate footsteps treading across the beach behind him until she’s a few feet away, softly calling his name.

Despite the lightness of her steps, grains of sand are kicked up, and some scatter against his bare ankles before sprinkling into the surf that foams around them.

He turns to face her and the corners of his mouth lift upwards, a tiny spark kindling to life in his open palm.

Fire dances within the cradle of his fingers, illuminating the depths of her sea-blue eyes, and he feels himself engulfed by her once more.

She returns his smile, and his breath catches in his throat as her lips crash against his like waves rushing up the shoreline.

Katara is the ocean, and Zuko is good at drowning.

~*~*~

The flame dies down as his hands glide along her waist, mapping out a familiar route. They rest on the curve of her hips momentarily before settling on her lower back, pulling her flush against his body.

She is a siren, and he’ll gladly succumb to her song if it means he can sink into her arms and never leave, even at the cost of his own life.

They break apart and he breathes heavily in spite of himself, panting like he's just surfaced from the deep. She grins up at him knowingly, tenderly stroking his scarred face with her soft hand.

He’s too far gone to care about pride or dignity as he hoists her up into his arms, groaning as her legs wrap around his waist.

His mouth slants beneath hers, whimpering each time her teeth lightly graze his lower lip and she rocks against him.

Loving her is like clinging to a raft amidst a stormy sea, desperate to stay afloat. He can only watch, helplessly awestruck, whenever he capsizes and she pulls him deep beneath the waves.

She is the ocean, enveloping him in darkness and carrying him further away from shore each time she kisses him, and he's overwhelmed by intoxication as he sinks further into her cool, comforting depths.

He’s good at drowning, and he will happily allow himself to be pulled under her riptides every single time, willingly giving himself up to be claimed by her again and again. 

Who can deny the ocean what she desires, after all?

~*~*~

He follows as if spellbound when she leads them further into the tides, a dance they have performed countless times before tonight.

Her arms flow gracefully as she bends water around them, guiding the pair deep below the surface.

The seawater swirls around them, and she shields both inside her pocket of air at the bottom of the ocean.

Their heels dig into the damp sand as they walk, and she stops only when her celestial body is a faint glow shimmering down through the dark water above.

 _You’re magnificent_ , he breathes, and she beams as she stands on her tiptoes to kiss him again.

He would be content staying with her forever down here in their own private bubble hidden from the rest of the world, but her strength will give out sooner or later, holding the walls of water at bay.

Still, he can think of no greater way to spend his last few moments than wrapping his arms around her protectively, sinking into her kisses.

Then she freezes the dome of air around them, freeing her hands for the time being, allowing her soft fingertips to roam over his face and body, and her featherlight touch leaves him shivering in anticipation.

Water is patient, water always goes where it wants to go, and in the end he is powerless to resist when she overwhelms him.

Breathless, he sinks beneath her in the sand, and she pulls him in like she's done many times before, surrounded by sea instead of bedsheets.

She has carved her name into his heart like water dripping steadily into a stone, just as his hips carve achingly upwards into hers.

He's needy and insatiable, and she matches his desperation just as hungrily, her lips claiming his again and again until he's left trembling under her touch.

Back and forth she washes over him, caressing and taking him in with an unrelenting rhythm as steady as the ebb and flow of the tides...

...until he finally surrenders, rasping her name like a prayer before he loses all control and she soon follows, crying out as her nails leave crescent-shaped marks in his skin, his fingers grasping her hips just as feverishly.

He pants, gasping for air like he's been submerged underwater while his hips shudder over and over, rolling underneath hers as they ride out their shared euphoria like waves breaking against the shore...

...and he drowns in her once more, completely engulfed by love.

~*~*~

When she finally melts the ice sphere around them, they float through the darkness towards the sky until they break through the surface, baptized by seawater and starlight.

She then relinquishes most of her hold over her element, lazily swirling water around them with her fingertips to keep them both afloat.

Her long curls tumble down from her head, the tendrils at the ends swimming atop the sea. Those ocean eyes threaten to drown him again, made luminous by the glimmer of the moonlight upon the ripples circling them both.

He cradles her soft body against his as their lips meet again, and when they pull apart for air, he whispers the words that are branded into his very soul.

She echoes them back breathlessly, and her kisses rain down upon his face like the salty spray of the sea against a cliffside. 

After she's caught her breath she smirks before she pulls him under once more, and he's all too eager to sink underwater with her as many times as she'll have him.

She is the ocean, and he’s good at drowning.


End file.
